Like a lot of networks as they move into original series, Tribune’s WGN America doesn’t yet seem to know what it wants to be when it grows up. So the channel is following the witchy (but not terribly bewitching) “Salem” with “Manhattan,” a dense ensemble drama devoted to the scientists involved in the Manhattan Project, which devised the first nuclear bombs. Opening, as the on-air script informs us, “766 days before Hiroshima,” the show establishes plenty of room to operate. But the program’s dense, grim nature augurs a rather narrow appeal, leaving a different sort of cloud hanging over its prospects.

Tellingly, the cast of “Manhattan” is listed in alphabetical order, suggesting a level of equality that’s both accurate and somewhat confining. Despite boasting some fine actors, without a central lead, the project tends to careen around like loose ions, lacking a stabilizing core.

The driving focus, naturally, is on the race to produce a weapon devastating enough to end WWII, which is what motivates Frank Winter (John Benjamin Hickey), who leads one of the competing teams, and never stops reminding his charges about the steady increase in combat casualties. His brilliance, however, is offset by the unproven nature of his work and his bull-in-a-china-shop demeanor — the lack of social graces and scientific genius being a not-unusual combination.

More Reviews

The introduction to all of this comes through Charlie (Ashley Zukerman), a new arrival who doesn’t know what he’s been enlisted to produce. Like the other scientists, he must lie to his spouse (Rachel Brosnahan), who quickly befriends Winter’s wife (Olivia Williams, especially good), as the families must survive in what amounts to ramshackle barracks in the Los Alamos desert.

While Charlie doesn’t wind up working for Winter, everyone is in the uncomfortable position of trying to impress Robert Oppenheimer (Daniel London), who, at least initially, is seen about as often as the President was supposed to be at first in “The West Wing” — an occasional presence spoken of in hushed, reverent tones.

Written by Sam Shaw and directed by Thomas Schlamme (yes, a “West Wing” alum), “Manhattan” earns points for being serious and ambitious, while creating a strong sense of atmosphere and place in the isolation — and paranoia — in which the families must exist. The promising cast includes Daniel Stern as Winter’s more politically astute colleague and Mark Moses as the facility’s military overseer.

Taking all those factors into account in decidedly unscientific fashion, “Manhattan” certainly isn’t a bomb creatively speaking, nor is it yet the bomb, in latter-day vernacular. And perhaps appropriately, as admirable as some of its elements are, what’s missing in the opening hours is the elusive spark necessary to make them genuinely pop.

TV Review: 'Manhattan'

(Series; WGN America, Sun. July 27, 9 p.m. ET)

Production:
Filmed in New Mexico by Lionsgate Television, Skydance Television and Tribune Studios.

Sign Up for Daily Insider Newsletter

Emmy winner and Oscar nominee Ava DuVernay is among the six notable industry figures who have been appointed to the Television Academy’s executive committee by new chairman/CEO Frank Scherma. DuVernay, whose recent TV credits include the documentary “13th” and drama “Queen Sugar,” will be joined on the committee by HBO programming president Casey Bloys; former [...]

The BBC has greenlit “The Goes Wrong Show,” a new series based on Mischief Theatre’s popular “The Play That Goes Wrong” stage production about a troupe that puts on disastrous plays. The stage show has transferred from London’s West End to Broadway for a J.J. Abrams-produced version described by Variety as “a broad, silly and [...]

As the Jussie Smollett saga continues to unravel, late night hosts are echoing the incredulity expressed by many by poking fun at the “Empire” actor’s alleged attempt to fake a hate crime, reportedly because he was dissatisfied with his salary. “This dude may have faked a hate crime just to get a raise?” asked Trevor [...]

Leaders of the Writers Guild of America have sent Hollywood talent agencies a proposed “Code of Conduct” with tough new restrictions on how they operate as agents for writer clients. The WGA made the disclosure Thursday night in an email to its 12,000 members, a day after announcing that it will hold a March 25 [...]

Jussie Smollett’s legal team issued a defiant statement on Thursday night, saying the “Empire” actor feels betrayed by the justice system and hinting at a political motive for his prosecution. Smollett was arrested early Thursday on a felony charge of filing a false police report. He was released after a court hearing on $100,000 bond, [...]

Fox has announced the casting of four lead characters for its multi-cam comedy pilot “Patty’s Auto,” including the eponymous Patty. Inspired by Patrice Banks’ Girls Auto Clinic, an auto repair shop with all female mechanics, the project centers on Patty, the intimidating owner of Patty’s Auto who will be played by “Straight Outta Compton” alumna [...]

NBC pilot “Uninsured” has cast four of its series regulars, with Adam Pally (“The Mindy Project,” “The President Show”) and Abby Elliott (“Saturday Night Live,” “Odd Mom Out”) playing the young married couple at the center of the show. Pally will play Dave, who is described as a “natural hype man with a good heart.” Elliott [...]